To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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Lessons in knife crime
PETER MASON applauds a new drama that looks at knife crime through the lens of a group of young south Londoners
Helen Ajayi in Knife on the Table
[Toby Mather]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
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Knife on the Table
Cockpit Theatre, London
THIS new play by Jonathan Brown looks at the thorny issue of knife crime through the lens of a group of young south Londoners caught up in a frightening cycle of drug and gang-related violence.
With nothing more than a bare stage and the menacing accompaniment of percussionist Fred Hills on drums, the Something Underground company successfully conjures up an atmosphere of fear and helplessness as the action leads depressingly towards a violent conclusion.
The cast is led by Brown himself as Angel, a sinister gang leader from whose malign intentions all chaos ensues, while the main centre of attention is the relationship between two teenagers, Flint (Jez Davess-Humphrey), a good boy turned bad, and his one-time girlfriend, the ambitious Book (Moyosola Olashore), who’s desperately trying to escape from the maelstrom around her.
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